Improved shutters for the port-holes of vessels



UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE.

lHENRY D. S'IOvER, OE NEW YORK, N.l Y., AND WILLIAM W. w. WOOD, or rI-IILADELPIIIA, PENNSYLVANIA; sAIDwooD ASSIGNOR To SAID STOVER. f

IMPROVED SHUTTERSFOR KHE PORT-HOLES QFVESSELS, 80C.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,129, dated April 29, 1862.

struction of Vilar-Vessels, Floating' Batteries,

and Sea-Coast and other Fortications; and

we hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which the several figures represent views in elevation, plan, and section of our relation 4tvo-each other and to the side walls of` improvements.

Late improvements in the building of warships, floating batteries, dac., have rendered such structures almost, if not entirely, impregnable. Saidimprovements,however,were confined mainly to the construction of the armor, and had for their-,principal object iinpenetrability, economy of oost and weight,

durability, and convenience of construction.

Although war-vessels and batteries thus constructed oifer to the gunners and occupants comparatively perfect protection, yet from l/the fact that the missiles and projectiles are in proportion the more formidable it is evident that if by chance or skill or otherwise one such projectile were thrown in amongthe gunners the execution resulting from it would be of the most fearful character. It is therefore important so to construct war-vessels or batteries that there shall be little or no opening, gap, hole, or embrasure through.

which balls, bolts, orother kind of projectile KVmay be fired or thrown into the interior of the ship; but vessels as heretofore constructed are necessarily provide'd with embrasures or openings called.,y port-holes, through which the guns arethrust while being sighted or .aimed and fired. These port-holes are exceedingly dangerous, inasmuch as they offer an opening large enough to ship projectiles of the largest caliber, and, moreover, serve as an easy target to the gunners of the enemy.

On the other hand, the attendants to the gunsr are placed in immediate vicinity or about the port-hole, from which -it will be evident that a single shotpenetrating the ship through the port-hole must necessarily cause execution, besidesendangering the ship by explo .sion',&c. I'

The object of our invention, therefore,is to so'construct, combine, and arrange shields or armors to port-holcs as to effectively protect the gunners and interior of the ship, without,

however, interferingwith the working. of the guns; -and our invention consists, first, Vin the y construction and arrangement of shields or armor to the port-holes of war-vessels, fioating batteries, dsc., substantially as hereinafter sho wn and described, by forming them of two or more plane or curved plates impenetrable to shot and arranged at such angles in the said vessel or batteries as to insure the glancing o of the .projectiles thrownupon or against them; second, in the combination, with movable shields grr-plates hinged orotherwise suspended to the side of the ship, so that the same may lbe opened or closed, of convex-shaped or angular blocks arranged to close the top opening between the shields and side walls and to hold the said shields, when closed, at therequisite angle in relation to each other and to the sidewalls of the ship,

dec.; third, in the combination of movable shields,constructed and arranged asherenafter described, with levers, chains, springs, or other mechanism, whereby the said shields may belworked at pleasure by hand from the inside of the'ship or battery; fourth, the

combination, with movable shields of `the method hereinafter described, of hanging-the same or of the employment of some other mechanism whereby the shields a're actuated automatically to close either against each other or against the gun; fifth, in forming correspondingoutcr recesses to the inner or closing edges of the shields of such shape as that the said shields by `closing lagainst the gun shall leave a vertical space sufficiently narrow to prevent projectiles from penetrating, yet wide enough to allow of the guns be ing sighted through it; sixtl1,in themethod of hanging theshields made of spherical or .plane surfaces at such angles in relation to each other as that while closing automatically, as described, they shall constitute both the roof and shield to the port-hole.

To enable others skilled in the nrt to carry with each othen..

-intoeiect this, our'invention, We shall now proceed to describe the construction', arrangement, vand combination of our improved shields or armorsto port-holes and the manner 0E operating them.`

In the accompanying, drawings, Figures l,

2, 3, andV 4 represent, respectively, front, side, f sectional," and plan views of a shield orarmor applied in illustration to the sloping or inclined side Wallsoi Iaship. A in the said figures are the side walls, which are perforated at suitableintervalstor 'the guns. On either side of thezport-hole or embrasure is a quadrangular shield, B, with' an outer flat, convex, orconcave surface, the two convergingtoconstitnte angles relatively to each .other and in relation to the sidewalls of the vessel as will insure the glancing oit of theballsor other projectiles. that may be vfired orthrown upon orf against them. In theseiigures the shields form when in a non mal position an angle of .forty degrees(rnore or less) Withtheside walls, and consequently' an angle of one hundred degrees (more orle's's)` The shields are-.hing in stitabitjsocigtsf fastinand tothe ship-walls, and are capable that the., shields' close and remain closed against the. guns'yvhile the latter are-being worked, theyfmay be made to close automatif cally.4 We have here shown the'` shield-oper- 'ating leverc' combined jyvith Weights 1), suspended-to the ends of the lever by means of a cord passing through aloo'p,e, or over apulley on the interiorv ofv "the side Wall. `The vweight,'havinga tendency to drawthelever ends toward the vside Walls,- will necessarily ca use the shields to converge or to close against the gun-barrel.

f Instead of Weightebhains, or springs, any

other suitable inechanicaldevice may be used to eect the same end. The shields are centrally, or thereabout, recessed, to allow of the y gun to be thrust out and Worked in a manner as if there were no shields. The muzzle of the gun is passed through theopening formed by the recesses in the shields, which are of such shape as to snugly fit or claspthe gun-barrel, or at least approach it sufficiently near toafford no room for balls or projectiles to p ene-I trate the interior of the ship. The recessed parts, it will be seen, are not completely circular, and the opening formed by them is (the shields being closed) of a transverse diameter smaller than the outside diameter of the gun-barrel. By thus shaping the recess thegun when placedin position to be fired will'jorm between the two shields a gap, throughwhichthe gunners may conveniently and under perfect protection make the ncces-4 Wise Work ythe gun. Upon the gun being Withdrawn `from the portph'ole, the shields may be closed by hand; or they may close automatically by the arrangement of Weights, springs, Etc., before described andreferred The opening on'the top and bottom betyreen the shields and side Walls may be 'closed by -means of semi-spherical or semi-pyramidical blocks or roofs secured to the A sides o f .tl1'e ship or boat, as shown inzthe drawings; 'orf 'they may be made 'simplyv to support the shields when closed or placed in their normalpositions at the requisiteangle infvrelationt'o` the side Walls of the ship. yIn the formerease 1 the blocks are provided Withstays ht, 'which fix the position of theshields. g e

Figs `5, 6, and 'Z show both in' the. general arrangement and combination and in. tliefd' tails substantially the same mode of 'constriic' tion of shields t'o port-holes.y In these figures the said shields are shown applied to'straight or perpendicular Aside walls, and are operated automatically by means of a powerful spring in ,lieu of weights.

. Figs 8and9 represent a: lnodiiic'ation .or simplification of my improved shields, embracing, however, all the features. of .my in' vention,v G, in thesaid'iigures, are shields of triangular or tra pezoidal form, -hinged upon the inclined sideso p and o .10', soL thatthe gravity-of each shield shall vca us'eit to 'close upon and. against the supporting-bracketH, Whose form is such as .to leave. a vertical sighting-gap vfor the gunners to sight thlough. These shields,- yvhile v'presenting surfaces, whether plane vor curved at right angles in relation to the side wallsof the vessels 'aswill reflect any. projectile fixed against them, consticute at the' same' time the-roof to the port- 'hO l y .Having thus 'described-the nature of ourfinvention and in what manner the same is or may be performed'we declarethat We do not claim the application toport-holes of shutters to keep the `Weather out, nor do we claim,

broadly, theuse of plates,'shields, or'armors for the protection of the interiorfof War-.vess sels, floatingbatteries, and sea-coast and other 1. The construction .and arrangement of shields vorarmor Vto the port-holes of War-ves` sels or iioating batteries, substantially as herevirl-shown. and described, by forming two or -of the projectiles thrown vupon or against them, as set forth.

` 2, In combination i with movable. shields, operating as described, 'the convex shapedor angularv blocks arranged to close the top opens ing between'the shields and side Walls, and to hold vthe saidl shields when closed at their requisite angles, substantially as shown and described.

3. In combination with such movable shields closing automatically or otherwise, in the manner described, so forming corresponding reeesses to the inner edges of the shields as that the shields by closing against the gun shall leave a'vertical space sufficiently narrow to prevent proj ectiles from penetrating, yet .Wide

enough to allow of the gun being sighted through it.

n. D. STOVER. WM. W. W. Woon.

Witnesses:

JOHN WHITE, J. COOKE LoNGsTREr'r. 

